


Breathe

by notjustalittlegirl



Series: Just Shut Up (Modern AU feat. The Silmarillion characters) [3]
Category: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, First Day of School, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-11
Updated: 2017-09-11
Packaged: 2018-12-26 16:03:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12062373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notjustalittlegirl/pseuds/notjustalittlegirl
Summary: The halls were so imposing, and Fingon felt like he was trapped in a sea of fish as the crowd jostled him along towards his next class. As he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, he saw mostly backs and shoulders. He was shorter than almost everyone in the entire hallway. His backpack was already heavy, weighed down by the papers and textbooks that he had been given on his first day of high school.It's Fingon's first day of high school, and Maedhros helps him out a bit.





	Breathe

**Author's Note:**

> Fingon is 14, and a freshman. Maedhros is 18, a senior. Although she doesn't appear in this story, Maglor is 16 and a sophomore. 
> 
> I don't own the Silmarillion, and I am making no money off of this. It is purely for entertainment purposes. Please don't sue me.

The halls were so imposing, and Fingon felt like he was trapped in a sea of fish as the crowd jostled him along towards his next class. As he looked around, trying to figure out where he was, he saw mostly backs and shoulders. He was shorter than almost everyone in the entire hallway. His backpack was already heavy, weighed down by the papers and textbooks that he had been given on his first day of high school. 

He saw the hallway where his next class was splitting off from the main hallway, and tried to push his way through the crowd. During this effort, he managed to step on the foot of an enormous boy, who growled and looked down at him with a burning glare. 

“Watch where the hell you’re going, freshie.” 

Fingon tried to mumble out an apology, but in doing so he missed his turn. The crowd swept him onward, and when it thinned Fingon realized that he had no idea where in Arda High he was. 

The bell rang, and the halls cleared of everyone save Fingon. He looked around futiley. He thought that he might be in the science wing, but he hadn’t the vaguest of ideas how to get to room B204, his history class, from there. 

Also, his back hurt from all the textbooks, and his heart was still going a mile a minute from his encounter with the giant boy in the hallway a few minutes ago. Uninvited, Fingon felt tears springing into his eyes. He wished he was back in Middle School, where everything was smaller and simpler. 

He scanned his surroundings again, hoping to find somewhere he could go to calm down and hopefully figure out how to find his next class, and his eyes landed on a boys’ bathroom a few doors away. Breathing out a sigh of relief, he opened that door and collapsed against the wall, burying his face in his arms and letting the tears start to fall. 

Crying in the bathroom on his first day. That was certainly  _ not  _ how Fingon had hoped his high school career would start. That thought only made him cry harder, and he could tell that snot was getting on his new shirt. 

The door squeaked, and started to open. Fingon gasped and hurried to try and hide himself in a stall, horrified to be caught crying by a perfect stranger who would almost certainly mock him. But, before he could close the stall door behind him, he felt a hand on his shoulder and mentally prepared himself to have his face shoved in a toilet, which was what seemed to happen to freshmen in basically every novel about high school that he had ever read. 

“Finno?” 

The voice that spoke his nickname nearly made Fingon collapse in relief. He was spun around to face the new person in the bathroom and, sure enough, was greeted by the red hair of his oldest cousin. 

Maedhros took one look at Fingon and locked the bathroom door, then pulled his cousin into his chest, wrapping his arms around him and giving him a crushing hug. Fingon tried to calm himself down, forcing himself to slow his tears. 

Maedhros carded a hand through his cousin’s hair, waiting until Fingon had stopped crying to speak to him. 

“Oh, Finno. What happened?” 

Fingon’s voice shuddered as he spoke, trying his best to answer Maedhros in a coherent voice. “I… I j-just got lost. Stressed. It’s n-nothing.” 

Maedhros raised a red eyebrow, and Fingon broke.

“I can’t do this! It’s so crowded and it’s so big and I stepped on someone and he yelled at me, and now I have no idea what I’m doing and I’m so late to class! My bag is heavy, and I don’t know if I can carry any more, how does anyone ever survive high school?” 

His cousin listened patiently as Fingon listed every single thing that had gone wrong that day. When he had finished, Maedhros let out a long sigh. 

“That sucks. I’m so sorry, Finno.” 

Maedhros gave him another hug, and Fingon laid a head on his cousin’s shoulder, tired from his bout of crying. 

“What am I going to do?”

Maedhros hummed in thought. “What class are you supposed to be in right now?” 

“History,” said Fingon, unsure why Maedhros was answering his question with one of his own. 

“Who do you have?” 

Fingon answered that he didn’t remember, and pulled his crumpled schedule out of his pocket when Maedhros requested it.  His cousin unfolded it, took a glance, and then handed it back to Fingon with a smile. 

“Miss Varda, huh? She’s cool, and she won’t mind if you’re late to class. Especially not when I e-mail her and tell her what’s up.”

Fingon squeaked, not wanting anyone to hear about his breakdown in the bathroom, not even a teacher. Maedhros heard that, and squeezed Fingon’s shoulder comfortingly. 

“Don’t worry, Finno. I won’t tell her about this. Just enough. And it looks like you’re taking choir, so you’ll have that with Kána, and I’m always a text away. Ready to go?”

Fingon nodded, and let Maedhros yank him back into his arms, squeezing him tightly, already feeling much better after being comforted by Maedhros, and relieved at the fact that he would see his other older cousin in class later. 

Maedhros led him out of the bathroom and led Fingon around three corners and up a set of stairs to Miss Varda’s room. Fingon wasn’t even aware of it, but he was gripping Maedhros’s arm tightly as they arrived at the door. 

His older cousin opened the door and ushered Fingon inside, giving the teacher a wink. Miss Varda rolled her eyes, and gave Fingon an encouraging smile. Maedhros gave Fingon’s hand a squeeze, and he smiled. 

“Thanks, Nelyo.” 

“Don’t mention it, cuz.” 

As Fingon took an empty seat next to a girl that he vaguely recognized as the sister of a friend of his cousin, he took a deep breath and thought that maybe, just maybe, high school would be okay after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
